How to speak English Fluently and Confidently

Note: This is Part II about not making mistakes in English. If you have not read Part I, I recommend you do that first.

confident-and-fluentLast week, in Part I, we looked at why people fear mistakes, common misconceptions, and the definition of true fluency.

Just a reminder, we defined true fluency as: Speaking confidently and being able to describe whatever you need in the target language, even when you don’t know certain words.

Fluency is NOT speaking perfectly, and as we learned in Part I, even natives make mistakes.

This week we’re going to get more practical and proactive by looking at how to overcome your fear of making mistakes and reach your goal to speak without mistakes.

How to Overcome Your Fear

As we noticed in Part I, learning English is very similar to learning anything else like guitar, juggling, basketball, etc. But because we relate it to our first language, which we already speak fluently, we feel silly when we can’t speak competently.

However, the most fluent English speakers think of language learning like acquiring any other new skill. And just like learning anything else, the more you practice, the better you get!

So, guess what?

The way you practice your English is by using it. It’s not enough to go to class two or three times per week. If you want to overcome your fear of making mistakes and get fluent, then you have to start speaking as soon as possible. And I promise if you start speaking regularly, you will notice yourself growing more and more confident in your abilities and improving.

So my challenge to you is to start practicing your English as much as possible.

I’m scared people will laugh

Many learners have a fear that goes beyond just making mistakes: That someone will laugh at their errors in the language.

If you are one of them, perhaps you developed this fear because of insecurities developed in school. It’s common that when we are young our fellow students will laugh at us either because A) We speak English well (in many cultures it’s not ‘cool’ to be smart when you are young), OR the opposite, B) Because we speak incorrectly and others laugh because we are ‘stupid’. This usually sticks with us even beyond school.

However, these insecurities are irrational. We’ve learned that making mistakes is an important part of a process. They in no way reflect your intelligence.

AND this is a good problem. Why? Because it means you have a HUGE opportunity.

Overcoming these insecurities will benefit you in every aspect of your life, beyond just speaking English fluently. So if this is you, then it’s time to realize that it is in your hands to change.

bilingualIt is not important if someone laughs. Realize that it’s not about you. You are doing something AMAZING just by speaking a foreign language!

When people laugh at others, they are just projecting their own insecurities, for example, an inability to speak another language well themselves. They put you down by laughing at you because they are scared they will never speak another language as well as you.

Plus, if someone laughs at you when you speak, this probably is not the type of person you want to be speaking to anyway.

The more you speak and make mistakes, the less it will matter to you. You’ll have more fun with the language and learn to laugh at yourself.

Cultivating a deep motivation

Before even practicing, you first must build a strong desire to gain fluency. Exceptional learners know that mistakes are the map and a passion to learn is the compass pointing them towards fluency.

Your desire to learn must become stronger than fear of potential embarrassment. Then you’ll be able to speak without problems, even when you’re making lots of mistakes.

And once you start speaking regularly, you’ll be unstoppable. Through your experience you will realize how insignificant mistakes really are. You’ll see that you have spent so much time scared, worrying about nothing. And with this realization you’ll feel a weight lifted off of your shoulders as you confidently move forward on your path to fluency.

Learn More About Fluent with Friends: The Fun Way to Learn English

A Student’s Transformation:

Let me tell you a story of a student of mine from Japan. Before starting classes with me, speaking was his greatest weakness. He was scared of talking to new people, so he rarely looked for opportunities to practice. After seeing a short TED Talk about 30-Day Challenges (Watch here), he decided to try to speak English every day for a month.

The important thing with a challenge like this is that there is some consequence if you don’t complete it and to have someone hold you accountable.

My student told his mom that any day that he didn’t speak English with someone he would cook dinner for the family. This is a good consequence because 1) He didn’t want to cook dinner, so it was more worth it for him to talk to someone, even if he didn’t feel like it, and 2) His mom held him accountable.

Amazingly he made a change from rarely speaking (mostly just reading and listening, like most learners) to speaking every day for an entire month. And he realized after just a few days that it wasn’t as hard as he thought. Sure, sometimes he had resistance and wouldn’t feel like speaking, but because of the challenge he did it anyway. And more importantly, he’s not scared anymore, he made a new habit.

Celebrate small wins

small victoriesSmall victories like this can help break anxiety and build confidence. And if you’ve never spoken English before, it doesn’t have to be something as big as what my student did. It can be something small, like asking for the time or the price of something, or giving a tourist directions or recommendations. If these aren’t possible in your city, start by speaking online.

You can make an exchange with someone who speaks your language, and you can use RealLife Global (RLG), which we built exactly for this reason. It’s a great way to build your confidence because each conversation is just 3 minutes, so even if you make mistakes, it’s quickly over and you can move on to a new person. Plus, students there tell us that because everyone is a learner or teacher, they don’t feel anxious like they do with a native speaker.

Don’t depend on texting

Something else I want to warn about is text chatting (like on Whatsapp and other social networks). It is ok for practicing your writing and using new vocabulary. However, many learners use it as an excuse not to speak. They say, “First I need to practice more on chat,” but this is a trap. You’re just letting fear and resistance trick you into avoiding speaking face-to-face.

Don’t be tricked.

Fluent English speakers know that fluency comes from speaking, not from chatting, and thus, as soon as they can, they move from text chat to video chat.

Even if you’re scared, you need to realize that text chat does not help you to overcome anxiety and build confidence in the same way speaking face-to-face does. So if you’re chatting on Whatsapp or social websites, ask your conversation partner if they will speak by video. You might be surprised, some people are just as eager to practice as you.

Speak English Confidently and Fluently

successLearning another language is difficult. However, as we’ve seen, you can be proud of all of your hard work and speak confidently. You don’t need to be shy and quiet. You don’t need to be scared of people laughing at you.

Confidence is a choice we make. This doesn’t mean it’s always easy and that we never get nervous or anxious.

Start taking small steps to be the fluent, confident English speaker that you want to be (Learn more in this video), and celebrate every small victory. That’s my challenge to you.

I’ve had tons of people telling me how much they loved these two articles and that it’s helped them to boost their confidence. So I’ve decided to create an Ebook that goes even deeper into the subject of confidence AND gives you actionable exercises to help you become a better communicator in English.

This Ebook will be coming out soon, so keep your eyes open (it will also be available for all of our Fluent with Friends students).

I would love to know what you thought about this article and if it helped you, so please, COMMENT below!

Enjoy this? You’ll like: 

  • arroh areh says:

    THanks so much Ethan!!It was happening to me,fear,shy,and not confident when I would practiced speaking.I worried make mistakes,I’m afraid that they couldn’t understand what I’m saying because I dont know about grammar,I havent clear pronounciation so it’s make me less confident.I asked myself..why I felt like that?How to overcome it?I should try to speak!!How I will able to speak if I’m not open my mouth?I’ve already read Part I,and then It gave me motivation. little by little I can speak even it just short phrases.I repeated it.so Thanks again and again hehe…I’m following tips fom RLG..I’m build my confident step by step!!Awww yeah!!

  • wesley batista says:

    Great article, as usual!! That’s so helpful

  • Fei Matheson says:

    Every morning when I open my computer, the first thing to do is to read your articles and watch your videos. I record my voice while I am reading your articles, and I repeat your sentences while I am watching your videos. I have learned a lot from you! Ethan, you are the best English teacher! Thank you for the wonderful English learning program. Fei Matheson

    • Ethan says:

      Aww you just put a big smile on my face, Fei :D. That’s such a sweet message, and I’m glad my articles and lessons have been helpful for you.

  • Leandro Pinheiro says:

    I loved the article, congratulations!

    • Ethan says:

      Hey Leandro, thanks again! These articles were really popular, so I am creating a new Ebook that goes even deeper on these ideas and has some exercises, so definitely keep an eye out for that (it will be available along with Fluent with Friends). I think you’ll love it, man! 🙂

  • Ethan says:

    Thanks Arroh! You hit the nail on the head. If you want to be better at speaking, you have to speak :D. It seems obvious, but most learners completely avoid it. I can see your hard work is paying off every time we speak, so keep up the good effort!

  • Julian says:

    such a great and lovely article Ethan, I think this is gonna help me to improve my english skills, congratulations for a pretty good work, Keep it up !

    • Ethan says:

      Thank you Julian! 😀

  • Yogesh maccks says:

    Hi ethan
    Mr vocabulary how are you doing
    This article is really awesome!!! Man
    Great tips its really motivating
    Thank you so much for this lovely cool article
    Huge fan of rlg
    Awwwwww yeah !!!!!!!!!!!!!
    From india

    • Ethan says:

      Thanks Yogesh, I’m glad it motivated you 🙂

  • Cristiano Inácio Lemes says:

    Thank you man for this both articles. I have started to speak English once and I know that is exactly this that you said. We should practice more and more to get fluent in a foreign language. Congratulations for this amazing project that is Real Life Global, this will change the life of many people all over the world. =D

    • Ethan says:

      That’s right, Cristiano, I’m glad that you agreed and that you found this to be true, dude! Thanks so much for your support 🙂

  • Andres Eduardo Rojas Zea says:

    I love it! this article inspire me a lot.

  • Lucas says:

    Congratulation Ethan! By this phrase “It is not important if someone laughs. Realize that it’s not about you. You are doing something AMAZING just by speaking a foreign language!” I’m sure you brought hope to many students!! This one was KILLER!!

    • Ethan says:

      Thank you Lucas! I really think that it is a difficult thing to realize, but once we do, it makes a huge difference. We have to make this our mantra 😉

  • Dinmeton Camargo says:

    I loved the article, now every oportunites that I talk in english, i will talk

    • Ethan says:

      Awesome Dinmeton! I’m so happy to hear that 😀

  • Jenna says:

    What a sweet article! I’m an International students in America and language barrier is one of the most hardest thing that many foreign students should overcome. I really am a shy person during the school day because of the speaking and listening problems..(i used to be a quite outgoing person when i was in my country though)and the reason of why English learner is having trouble in speaking I guess they are not very good to come up with the proper words what they want to explain while talking (like I do).
    Anyway this was very helpful and motivated me a lot:) appreciate it!

  • Nikhat parveen says:

    I want to learn fluent English

  • Addybaba says:

    Mr Ethan, i need to commend you on your painstaking efforts into making life worth living again. This unconventional style needs to be conventional. You are such a great teacher. Thank you for changing my orientation.

  • muahmmad fiaz says:

    Thank you for your great article. from my own experience the only way to speak fluently is to start speaking. no other way exitst, i wonder how we learn our first language we just start speaking and day by day the time comes when able to speak fluently. i was searching on internet how to find a speaking partner and found a website which is very useful for improving english is speaing24.com is website where you can find speaking partner. i am using this website from last week and i am loving it. final tips keep practicing and never shy away from it will eventually be conquered.

  • Joel says:

    Very much useful and boosted my confidence level